Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made a stunning admission during a recent interview when asked about the Oklahoma City Thunder’s postseason performance. After finishing the regular season with the best record in the Western Conference, the Thunder got past the Memphis Grizzlies, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves to reach the NBA Finals.
Although Oklahoma City allowed the Indiana Pacers to orchestrate a last-minute comeback and steal Game 1, they responded to this loss with a blowout win in Game 2, making a statement heading into Game 3.
As the series shifts to Indiana for Games 3 and 4, Gilgeous-Alexander spoke openly about his team’s current mindset and shared his thoughts on their postseason run.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Remains Humble Despite the Thunder Dominating the Playoffs
While the Thunder dominated throughout the regular season, many critics assumed that they would be unable to do the same in the playoffs, given their age and lack of experience. However, they proved doubters wrong by eliminating some of the best teams in the league.
Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder are allowed to feel extremely confident given their performance throughout the 2024-25 season. However, he displayed a remarkable amount of humility when talking about his team in the pregame press conference for Game 3.
“That’s the way I view competition, how I view everything as a whole. Like, you never going to do anything in life perfectly. No matter your age or your upside or whatever it is, you can learn and get better. Now, us being younger, I guess the room is a little bit bigger but we definitely have…We haven’t once yet played a perfect basketball game or had a perfect series,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
“So there’s definitely plenty of room to get better, and that’s one of the things we focus on as a building and as an organization. I think that’s why we’ve been able to get better so quickly.”
It is undoubtedly a matter of opinion on whether the Thunder played a perfect basketball game. However, Gilgeous-Alexander inadvertently forgets that his squad swept Ja Morant and the Grizzlies to win their first-round matchup within four games, making that a perfect series.
As things stand, the pressure is now on the Thunder to win Game 3 on the road and get revenge for letting the Pacers win Game 1. While they certainly have the talent and potential to do so, fans should keep in mind that he and the young Thunder squad have little experience on a stage like the NBA Finals.
The next few days will reveal if Gilgeous-Alexander’s humility and quiet confidence will help his squad take firm control of this series against the Pacers. The contest will take place on June 11 at 8:30 p.m. ET.